


After

by Cyborgprincess



Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-23
Updated: 2014-11-23
Packaged: 2018-02-26 17:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2661098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyborgprincess/pseuds/Cyborgprincess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of one shots with a poor title about Cinder and Kai after what I hope is the end of Winter i.e. everyone lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After

"Trade relations between the Eastern Commonwealth and Luna seem to be fine. Oh and the people of Luna voted in a plebiscite that they had no objection to Queen Winter handling internal affairs and me handling Foreign relations so I am officially the Lunar ambassador. Back to trade relations, many Lunars are quite keen on maintaining a steady permanent trade with some of the traders in the Commonwealth for which they will need consent from the provincial level at least. Then there is the matter of-"

It had been the same for the past eight months. Weekly video calls with Cinder, Queen Selene now, regarding relations between Luna and The Eastern Commonwealth. Treaties, laws, finances and grants. And in all those calls, there were maybe 1089 seconds of her talking to Kai. Not that he was counting. 

"Emperor Kaito are you listening to me?"

He looked at her. Her eyebrows were raised. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her arms were crossed, cyborg hand uncovered. She was dressed in a grey shirt and blazer. He couldn’t see but he was sure that she was wearing ankle length trousers and flats. There was a hint of anger in her face. 

"Of course I am, how could you suggest otherwise!"

Her eyes narrowed. She held her hands in front of her, the flesh and blood hand rubbing the wrist of her metal hand. 

"This is serious Kai." 

"Can we please leave this for next week?"

Her angry expression faltered. “This really is important Kai. We have nations to run. We can’t just take breaks.”

"We have been doing that for the past eight months. Is it so wrong for me to want to spend some time with the girl I like?"

A heartbeat passed. Then two. Over on Luna, Cinder took a deep breath and pushed away the portscreen containing her notes. Looked up with a slight smile. 

"Stars. I was actually planning on completing the work before spending time with you properly you know."

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

Her smile grew, lit up her face. It had been a while since he had last seen it. 

"You should see a doctor, your memory seems to be weaker."

"My memory-"

"One year," she said, laughter bursting out of her. "You know, I was missing a foot when you brought Nainsi."

Then it dawned on him that it had been exactly a year since he first met Cinder. A year since he first saw her, behind a desk covered by an old tablecloth, unsteady on her feet, flustered and covered in grease and oil. 

"That would explain why you were so reluctant to stand. I thought you must have been Linh Cinder’s daughter or something when I first saw you."

"I wasn’t "quite what you were expecting", was I? Just for knowledge’s sake, what were you expecting?"A small smile graced her face, she was leaning forward, arms crossed over her waist. 

"Someone older, more male and not half as beautiful."

She raised her eyebrows and said in a clipped tone,”That is quite sexist.”

He felt his ears grow hot. He felt bashful, chastised. ” I was wrong to assume anything about you. Please accept my apology.”

She gave him a curt nod before her expression changed, wistful. “You know, Peony was so angry that I didn’t call her when you came. I didn’t even tell her until late in the evening. We were at a junkyard, looking for a mag belt. She made me promise I would call her when you came to pick up Nainsi.”

Kai knew that Peony had caught Letumosis around the same time as when he first met her but this was news to him. He knew that he reminded her of her beloved sister. All he really knew about her was that she had a crush on him. Cinder never really spoke about her but he gathered that she must have been good to her. 

She took a shaky breath, her face grew sadder as she spoke,

"That was where she caught Letumosis. My mother had created it. And Peony died of it. She-she got her dress that day. She looked angelic. She had teamed up with Iko in criticising the car we found in the junkyard. I was planning on using it to escape New Beijing. I ended up crashing it into a tree in the palace."

She looked at him, shifted, raised her head, opened her mouth to speak, closed it, looked away and the looked back. She smiled wryly. 

"Can you please talk instead?Distract me?"

The time they were talking about wasn’t good to him either. The memory of his father stood out. Unable to think of anything that was completely innocent of grief, he went back to the start. 

"Did you realise that there was grease on your forehead when we met?"

She raised one hand to cover her face and tapped the other on her desk. 

"Iko pointed it out later. She actually made a very interesting reasoning about it. According to her, if I went to the ball, you would dance with me because that time, I wouldn’t have grease on my face. Never understood how she thought that."

Kai thought that it was probably that Iko thought she would look so beautiful that he wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation of asking her to dance. She was probably right. Not that Cinder would believe that. So, he replied instead.  
"Well, we’ll find out at the ball."  
"How do you know if I am coming? I might have to remain here."

"I know because you are in charge of the foreign affairs of Luna and a celebration such as the annual ball symbolising peace would be foolish to miss."

"That is a fair point."

"Come to the ball with me." he abruptly asked. At her questioning glance he elaborated, "Come to the ball with me. We could go as a pair. We could dance. I could hold you close to me. We could sneak away for awhile."

She stared at him for a while. He wondered if he had said something very wrong. Maybe they weren’t in a romantic relationship. They had certainly never talked about it and-oh great stars! He had ruined it by scaring her off. On the other side, Cinder began packing up her things. She was talking continuously 

"Please go through the trade laws for permanent partnerships. There is a cure shipment for the very last cases of Letumosis due to arrive in about five hours. If you feel that the people of the Commonwealth should be informed about the plebiscite then please do so. I will comm you in a week’s time for further discussion of the Treaty. Oh and Kai-" he raised his head to see her grinning wide. 

"I would love to accompany you to the ball."

The netscreen went black.


End file.
